July 27, 2005

Slightly Surreal

Two things occurred today that made today feel a little strange.

First, Wonkette, everyone's favorite political gossip blog, linked a Washington Timesarticle co-written by fellow Institute of Political Journalism student and intern Ed Cen. I ride the bus with to work with this guy every morning.

(By the way, can someone explain to me how that story got on the front page of a major newspaper? I'm happy for Ed, really, but I think that was crappy editing.)

Second, a cold front finally hit the DC area. A storm came with it. When the storm subsided, a gorgeous and eerie light filled the sky. It made everything look slightly odd. I loved it.

July 25, 2005

What A Day

Today has been entirely too long, but quite a few good things happened.

I went to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building (which is right next to the White House) this morning to listen to Dan Bartlett and the deputy press secretary of Bush speak. I received a random compliment about my hair from a woman as I was going from the "White House briefing" to work. At work, I completed two papers and had time to do actual work. I "led" a debate team in arguing the "con" side of a national shield law for journalists, and we won.

I am now completely finished with classes for the summer, and I have three more days of work ahead of me.

July 17, 2005

"Quoth the Raven. . ."

I am also reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This book I read when I take breaks from writing essays and studying for finals.

The book is a fantasy-type book that has gotten very interesing. I found the following passage just a few moments ago, and I decided that I have to share it.

It is below the cut because of a swear word.

Context: Shadow is a man recently released from prison. He is under the employ of a man called Wednesday. He just received word from a talking raven about what he needs to do.

The raven flew up and away. Shadow looked at the corpse of the baby deer. He decided that if he were a real woodsman, he would slice off a steak and cook it over a wood fire. Instead, he sat on a fallen tree and ate a Snickers bar and knew that he really wasn't a real woodsman.

The raven cawed from the edge of the clearing.

"You want me to follow you?" asked Shadow. "Or has Timmy fallen down another well?" The bird cawed again, impatiently. Shadow started walking toward it. It waited until he was close, then flapped heavily into another tree, heading somewhat to the left of the way Shadow had originally been going.

"Hey," said Shadow. "Huginn or Muninn, or whoever you are."

The bird turned, head tipped, suspiciously, on one side, and it stared at him with bright eyes.

"Say 'Nevermore,'" said Shadow.

"Fuck you," said the raven. It said nothing else as they went through the woodland together.

July 14, 2005

Public Relations

Topics like this are what really make me disappointed that written words can not accurately portray the tone of a person's voice. If they could, you would know just how much I despise public relations people. Let me explain.

In my journalism seminar last night, our guest speaker was the vice president of a major PR firm in DC. I went into this class with an open mind. I knew that many journalists hate PR firms, but I thought I would at least listen to the perspective of the firms. The speaker preceded to tell us all about PR and how those who work PR should try to make the journalists' job as easy as possible. "Be persistent without being pesky," she advised.

She later went on to contradict her advice completely. "When you or your client are invited on television or talking with reporters, come up with two or three main messages and--no matter what is asked--always find a way back to those messages." "Never answer a hypothetical question." "Always push the message you want to get out."

This, in my opinion, is part of the reason media quality has declined as much as it has. No one will actually answer the questions that are asked. This is part of the reason that the American public is so ignorant when it comes to everything.

This firm represents clients in a large variety of areas. It has politicians, authors, special interest groups, commentators, and a variety of others. It seems that in today's world anyone who is anyone needs a PR team. If someone wants to be known, he or she must pay someone else to manipulate the public. It is disgusting.

July 08, 2005

STRESS!

I have about three weeks left in DC. I have two weeks of classes left at Georgetown. As such, my professors and employer have decided to give me an obscene amount of work.

This weekend I need to research and write a seven-page minimum Economics paper because I won't have another long stretch of time to work on it before it will be due. I must begin studying for the second Economics test on this upcoming Thursday.

I need to write an op-ed piece, which will include quite a bit of research into the topic of my choice (most likely national shield laws for journalists), for my Journalism Seminar. I must also conduct an interview with a professional journalist in the DC area and begin writing a seven-page paper for the same seminar.

Over the weekend, I will need to create five story ideas (and write a "brief" description of each) for the magazine at which I intern. If my supervisor likes any of them, I will get to write one of them. I also have just less than a thousand stories I need to organize before my last day of work.

Thankfully, my ethics professor has decided not to add to this burden. Yet.

If I can survive this week, which I believe will be the busiest and most stressed of my educational career, the rest of the summer should be practically easy-going.

On the plus side, I do have a White House briefing at some point in the next few weeks. I am quite excited about that.

July 05, 2005

The Fourth in DC

I slept in until about noon. I then watched Spiderman 2 with one of my roommates.

Around four o'clock, we left for the National Mall. On the way, we stopped to eat at a Subway.

When we got to the Mall, we met some friends and sat around for about thirty or so minutes. After this, I left with some people to go watch A Capitol Fourth, the PBS concert special. After the concert, I watched fireworks explode behind the Washington Monument.

I then came back to my apartment and slept. All in all, it was a good day.